Our values and ethos at Acorn are underpinned by an ethic of care, but what does that mean? An ethic of care is a concept which describes a morality as well as a practice and it can be applied to any area of life – but we think it is particularly relevant to early years care and education.

‘Childcare’ is often devalued as a term, often being used to describe the services provided to working families, and as a kind of poor relation to early education, which is seen as having much higher value and importance.

At Acorn, we think that care needs to come first. When a family chooses to entrust their baby or child to us, they expect and hope that we will offer a professional kind of love, that first and foremost we will keep their child safe and happy. Education is obviously very important but we know that children are not able to focus on learning unless they are feeling comfortable, both physically and emotionally. A happy child will be naturally curious, and a confident child will respond enthusiastically to stimulating and inspiring environments and interactions with qualified, skilful adults.  

An ethic of care is relational, which is why it is particularly relevant for Acorn as we also have a relational pedagogy. Children need to form secure attachments at nursery, usually with their key person, but often with several adults. They also form friendships with their peers, and have to learn the social skills of sharing and of co-operating with others. A child learns caring behaviours from the behaviours they see modelled, so we are very keen to foster a caring culture at Acorn.  Mutually trusting relationships between practitioners and family members help to support a child’s learning and development. An ethic of care is more than just the modelling of caring behaviours, it can be applied to everything we do, so it might be helpful to unpack what we mean by care.

Care has been described as having four phases and these can be applied to the Acorn approach across the whole organisation:

Firstly, ‘Caring about’ means that we care. We care about children, we care about social justice, about combating inequality and endeavouring to make our provision as inclusive and accessible as possible. We care about whether are staff teams are happy and fulfilled, and we care about the families who use our services. We also care about the natural world and the climate crisis, so our sustainability initiatives can be seen as part of our ethic of care.

Secondly, ‘Taking care of’ means taking responsibility for things.  We endeavour to take care of everything relating to children’s time with us, to alleviate the pressure on families, and be aware of, and to tackle, the challenges that sometimes mean high quality early years care and education is only available to those that can afford high fees. This is why we insist on making our provision fully inclusive, despite the government’s funding guidance telling us to treat things like meals and activities like forest schools, as optional extras. We want to take responsibility for keeping our provision inclusive, so that all children experience the same full range of activities, and enjoy the same high quality of meals and snacks. If some children were to sit on a separate table with a packed lunch, not only would they not be enjoying the same meals as their peers, but they would miss out on the social capital of mealtimes, learning to set the table and to use cutlery, serving their own vegetables, and discussing the food on their plates.

The third phase, ‘Care giving’ applies to the physical and emotional care that we provide, and car routines are often an aspect of early years provision that is taken for granted. The intimate care of nappy changing and toileting, however, needs to be undertaken with respect and sensitivity, by a trusted adult that knows a child’s habits and preferences. Similarly with sleep, feeding, and even just wiping a child’s nose. We ensure that our practitioners are aware of the importance of a sensitive, respectful approach to care routines.

Finally, ‘Care receiving’ describes the feedback loop that is essential for us to understand a child’s experience and to continually work to improve what we do. Early years practitioners understand the importance of reflective practice, and observing children closely, and listening to them, is a vital part of that reflection, as is the feedback and information gained from family members, to ensure that we are all working together in the best interests of a child.

The caring culture that we work very hard to create at Acorn isn’t always perfect, but we are constantly finding ways to ensure that care is our organising principle. From finance to HR, as well as in our curriculum and pedagogy, we take our commitment to ethical practice very seriously, and our passion for professional development is an important part of this, as we know that high quality depends on well trained staff, and we know that there are always opportunities to further develop and improve our practice.

The ethic of care can be political, moral, and practical, and can be applied to government policies, organisational culture and practices as well as the way in which our early years practitioners handle and care for the babies and children entrusted to us. No-one goes into working in early years in the hope of finding glamour or wealth, but it is work that is immensely rewarding and satisfying, when we see the development of children on a daily basis and form relationships that often last for several years. It is unremittingly hard work, however, so we are always seeking ways to improve the working lives of our employees at Acorn. Placing children at the heart of our decision-making process is privilege that we enjoy, because of our status as a charitable social enterprise. We have to achieve financial sustainability, but we don’t make money for any shareholders or investors – every penny left after our costs are met is reinvested in the organisation, in order to continually improve the environments, the resources and facilities, and the salaries and training opportunities for our hardworking workforce.  

If done well, care is education, and it is certainly a prerequisite for successful learning. Children need to experience care and to have caring models to become caring themselves, and their ability to care, for themselves, for others, and for the natural world, is critical for the future wellbeing of us all. That’s why we embrace an ethic of care at Acorn, and we hope that you will share that with us.